So, I took this week off work and made it a 'staycation' to catch up on things I've been meaning to do around the house, and get lots of barbecuing practice in. I have done lots of smokes already (and thank you all for your opinions and experiences as they help a lot and are a great sounding board for ideas), but this was the first one I documented from beginning to end. I even noted all the temperatures and charted the results. You can clearly see where I plateaued too.

A few things to note:
- Used a picnic as opposed to a butt because I wanted to try out cooking with the skin and having that much fat to baste
- Started cooking skin side down to create bark on the exposed meat, then flipped it halfway through the cook, to baste the meat during the plateau period
- Did not season the skin as I thought that seemed pointless, though I may try scoring it next time and seasoning it
- I cook strictly with hickory chunks. I understand that smoke absorption is done after the first 2 - 3 hours, but I feel it makes a bit of a difference and I like to cook with wood. Call me old fashioned

No, I do not have my thermostat at grate level. I did think of adding one there before, but I did a test with a thermometer before and stuck at grate level, and found that the temperature was about the same. But that may mean that my temperature gauge on the top of the lid is off too

I've actually relied on just that one thermometer and it's been working well for me. The cooking rate seems to be in line with expected guidelines out there. The problem that I have run into in the past is when it's extremely cold outside or if it rains a bit. Then, I do slip in a thermometer at grate level just to double check my cooking temp.

Welcome to the board, Chris! Sounds like you've got a good idea of what you're doing. The pics looked great, and I especially liked the temp chart - it really shows clearly what's happening to the meat during the cook.

Unlike propane, you'll never wake up scorched and naked in another county because you mishandled a bag of briquettes.